Sun and Moon letters

Sun and Moon Letters

First, let us have a look at the Arabic alphabets.

There are 28 Alphabets.

Among them, 14 are Sun letters and 14 are Moon letters.

The Sun-letters are called Huroof Al-Shamsiyyah
(حروف الشمسيّة).

The Moon-letters are called Huroof Al-Qamariyyah
(حروف القمريّة).

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Now let us see which are the Sun-Letters.

You can see the 14 Sun letter marked (in red font) in the above picture.
They are: 
- ت ، ث ،  د ،  ذ ،  ر ،  ز ،  س  ، ش ،  ص ، ض ، ط ، ظ ،  ل ، ن

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The remaining letters are the moon-letters.

You can see the 14 Moon letters marked (in Black font) in the above picture.
They are: ا ، ب ، ج ، ح ، خ 
ع ، غ ، ف ، ق ، ك ، م ، ه ، و ، ي .

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Why are the "Sun" and "Moon" letters of the Arabic Language called so?

The Sun Letters: 

The word Al-Shams which means "The Sun" in Arabic starts with the letter ( ش ) "Sheen". 

As "Sheen" is one of the alphabets belonging to this group, the whole group is named Huroof Al-Shamsiyyah (The Sun Letters).

The Moon Letters: 

The word Al-Qamar which means "The Moon" in

Arabic starts with the letter ( ق ) "Qaaf". 

As "Qaaf" is one of the alphabets belonging to this

group, the whole group is named Huroof Al-

Qamariyyah (The Moon Letters).

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Let us arrange the Sun-letters and the Moon-letters in separate columns.

The Sun and Moon letters become significant when:

a) the alphabet is the first alphabet of the word and

b) the word is prefixed with the definite article   "Al" ( ال ) 

c) and the word is used in the vocal form 

( ie. Characteristics of Sun and Moon letters are vivid while reading or speaking - while not much significant in the written form)

Example: 

(For Moon letters)

القمر will be written as - القمر (al-qamar) (meaning the Moon)

القمر will be read as - القمر (al-qamar)(meaning the Moon)

(For Sun letters)

الشمس will be written as - الشمس (al-shams) (meaning the Sun). Note that there is no significance of shamsiyyah or qamariyyah in the written format.

الشمس will be read as - الشَّمس (ash-shams)(meaning the Sun) 

Note that the word is not read as "al-shams" but is read as "ash-shams".

The ( ل ) has been dropped.

The shaddah ( ّ  ) is placed on the shamsiyyah alphabet.

To understand the Shamsiyyah and Qamariyyah letter better, please go through the videos that follow.